Omg I'm such a nerd when it comes to making titles for these chapters. Surface... I wonder what that could mean... Don't forget to review at the bottom! It keeps me motivated, especially as this semester comes to a close and I have lots of finals to pass!

"Okay, I've had enough near death experiences for today." Mario griped, fixing up a gash in his armor.

"There's just too many of them." Pulse sighed in agreement.

Zaylee walked down the stairs as she finished a call to Broodie.

"Well, we've checked in with everyone." Zaylee let out a sigh of exhaustion. "Xia, how's the decoding going?"

Xia gave a noise of affirmation before returning to the work on her holo pad.

"Trixie?"

"I've sent out the latest information and plans to the respective people. Our plans of attack have all been mapped out and we're keeping a close eye on Blakk's movements. Problem is that there are more of them than there are of us. We've got about 50 slingers on our side excluding the Shadow Clan. I don't think that's enough to keep our footing for long."

"I hate to admit it, but we need Eli back. Even without really knowing what he was doing, he was good at what he did." Dana muttered.

"That's because he was a Shane." Pulse sighed.

"When is he coming back?" Kord asked. "It's been almost three weeks!"

Zaylee pressed her lips into a thin line. She probably missed Eli more than anyone, but she also knew more than anyone that the last thing on his mind right now was the fate of Slugterra.

"Zaylee, I want to talk to you… alone." Trixie's whisper broke into her thoughts.

Zaylee nodded, albeit a bit confused, and followed Trixie outside to the porch behind the hideout that overlooked the valley the house was tucked away in.

"We need Eli back."

"You're preaching to the choir." Zaylee huffed, leaning on the bannister and stroking Rexy in her hands.

"You fight so much better with him. And he'd be a huge morale boost for the rest of the slingers."

"Again, preaching to the choir." Zaylee muttered, feeling suddenly very nervous. She didn't know where Trixie was going with this, but considering some of their pasts, Zaylee suddenly felt very uneasy.

"You need to go to the surface world and get him."

"What?!" Zaylee yelled, almost dropping Rexy in surprise.

"You're the only other person in Slugterra that I know from the surface. You're the only one who knows where Eli is right now. Slugterra needs him now more than they ever have before."

"So you just want me to leave you all here?"

"We can take care of ourselves for a day or two." Trixie smiled. "Getting Eli back would be worth it."

Zaylee shifted nervously.

"Don't worry. He's yours." Trixie smiled, seeming to read her thoughts.

Zaylee sputtered again.

"Please, it's so obvious." She smirked. "And I know he likes you too. That's why you need to go. If anyone has a chance at talking sense into him, it's you."

"I don't know… my track record's not that good." Zaylee's entire face suddenly felt like it was on fire.

"I believe in you." Trixie smiled. "I know you're a great person, you've done a great job of leading the Shane Gang these past few weeks, and you've always helped us out in the past in ways that only you are capable of. I know you're willing to do anything to get what you want, and we both know you'll have to try everything to get Eli back. And I want you to do whatever it takes."

Zaylee blushed, realizing what Trixie was implying.

"Well, considering the facts and situation, I really can't say no." Zaylee shrugged. "Let's just set up some things so everyone is taken care of for the next few days and then I'll head out." She put Rexy on her shoulder and headed back towards the hideout. "You sure you guys will be okay without me?" Zaylee looked questioningly at Trixie.

"We'll manage." Trixie nodded affirmatively. "This is more important."

Zaylee nodded in agreement. "Whatever it takes." She promised.

After her last experience on the surface, she thought she'd never return. Zaylee shifted uncomfortably in the seat of her mecha as she looked up at the recently re-opened hole that connected Slugterra with the surface world. She scratched at the surface clothes she had tossed on to make journey back up. The red hoodie was a lot tighter than it was when she had first come down here and the fabric was scratchy and uncomfortable against her skin. And the jeans she had found that actually fit were horrible. How did she ever consider these comfortable before?

"Alright guys, it wouldn't be fair to the Shane Gang if I took you guys with me," She looked down at her and Eli's slugs. "I know you miss Eli too, but the gang needs you here." She smiled down at their squeaks and chirps.

"Rexy, Ivy, you're all I need now. Let's bring Eli home."

She loaded her Vinedrill in her blaster and added the megamorph upgrade.

"This should make it a lot easier on you than last time." She smiled reassuringly at Ivy. The green slug was a strong Vinedrill among others, but the climb to the surface was taxing at best.

"Grab the chair too, that'll make getting back a lot easier." Zaylee instructed the slug as she shot the slug at top speed. The teen hopped on a green vine, letting it carry her up to the drop zone.

"Good job Ivy." She called down to the slug as she dismounted and the vines began to recede. Zaylee doubted the slug could hear her, but it was the thought that counted.

"Alright Rexy, let's go bring Eli back," She set her jaw as she placed the slug on her shoulder and made her way back to the manhole that separated her from the old neighborhood she and Eli used to call home. "There's just one thing we've got to do first."

Zaylee took a deep breath in as she shifted the manhole cover back into place. The surface smelled so much different than Slugterra. And there was actual weather. And the sky. Zaylee looked up and grinned. As beautiful as the caverns were in Slugterra there was nothing that could beat the starry night sky above her head now.

"Don't know what a full moon means for us Rexy, but let's just hope it's good."

The slug chirped back in agreement. Zaylee scratched at her hoodie again and pulled the hood up, hoping no one would recognize the teenager that had supposedly moved to Russia to finish her schooling.

She walked the familiar streets down to her house. The garage lights were on as she expected. Zaylee wasn't ready to see Eli quite yet. There was one person that could counsel her on what to do though, and that was a visit long overdue.

She lifted a timid hand to knock on the door at the back of the garage, unsure if it was even heard, but there was a clanking of metal tools as a pair of heavy footsteps made their way to the door.

"Zaylee!" A well-built man in a yellow plaid flannel shirt opened the door and enveloped the girl in a large hug.

"Hey dad." She smiled, returning the hug.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to get Eli." She informed him as she walked into the garage.

"Of course not to visit your old man." Her dad scoffed.

"It's been horribly busy." She sighed. "We were fighting Blakk, and then there was this evil scientist organization called B.E.E, and then we thought we'd beaten Blakk, but now he's returned from the realm of the Dark Bain, and it's just been ridiculously crazy."

"Could never get rid of that damned man," Zaylee's dad muttered at the sound of Blakk's return.

"Yeah, and then Eli got the letter that Mrs. Shane was sick."

Her father grunted, "Yeah, it was pretty tough for a while. Your mom was taking good care of her, but Liz insisted on letting Eli know. You know those Shanes, all so stubborn."

"Believe me, I'm well aware. But she's better now?"

"On the mend, like I said, your mom was taking care of her."

"And managed still doting on that other child?"

"You're still sore over Jameson?"

"Yes." Zaylee practically spat.

"Let it go, it was a good thing to do." Her father raised an eyebrow at her.

Zaylee shrugged and found herself a seat on her dad's work table. "Anyways, I stopped by because I did want to say hi, but because I also need advice on how to convince Eli to come back. We haven't stood a chance since he left. Blakk's too powerful, and there are just too many henchmen. I don't know where he gets them all."

"Well, Eli's just as stubborn as any other Shane. No one really knows he's back, so I guess you could use the threat of him getting re-discovered in the neighborhood."

"That wouldn't be good enough."

"Try the whole fate of the entire planet."

"Tried that one before he returned to the surface." Zaylee shrugged.

"Well aren't you just the tactical genius?" The older man laughed at her. Zaylee smiled in return before going back to thinking.

Her eyes wandered around the work area as she thought before resting on an old photo, years before her time.

"Who's that?" She asked.

"Hm? Oh that's your great-grandma."

"That's strange… she looks like she's in Lumino Cavern…" Zaylee looked up at her dad.

"Micah." She glared, using his first name to make her point. "What have you been keeping from me?"

"Well dear, I wasn't the first Foxx to go to Slugterra." He sighed.

"Why does she have traditional Shadow Clan markings?" She stared intently at the faded picture. "Is this where our Shadow Clan powers come from? What have you not told me? I thought Will was the only one who kept things from his kid!" She turned abruptly to her father, her face demanding answers.

Micah sighed, looking down at his stubborn daughter. "Your great-grandmother's name was Joyce Foxx. She found her way down to Slugterra somehow, I'm not that sure on all the details." Micah paused, choosing his wording carefully. "She fell in love with one of the Shadow Clan members, I think the name was A'zuran."

"A'zuran was king before Mfalme! Are you telling me I'm freaking related to Mfalme!"

Micah's silence was all the conformation Zaylee needed.

"So that's why I can do all those things like talk to the Shadow Clan and teleport." She answered herself softly. "Why did you never tell me?"

"It wasn't revealed to me until I was much older. My mom and one of her brothers returned to the surface with the help of Jimbo Shane and vowed to never go back. They stayed close with the Shanes though, and that's how I got to know Will, but she never told me anything of Slugterra. After I followed Will down there, I don't think she ever forgave me. Don't know why she hated the place so much, but she did."

"So I have relatives in Slugterra?"

"I'm not entirely sure on that one. If you do, I don't know where."

"But I am related to Mfalme?"

"Yes, you are."

Zaylee ran a hand down her face and scratched the fabric of her red hoodie again.

"They tatted you huh?" Her dad nodded to the bit of the black ink that was peeking out on her wrist.

"Yeah. So where's yours?" She asked challengingly.

"What I have left of it." He grunted, pushing up his sleeve past the prosthetic arm that he had lost to a Thrasher in a battle with Blakk.

Zaylee looked at the intricate markings that weren't much different than hers.

"So you could transport too?"

Her dad nodded.

"Were you able to- talk to slugs?" Zaylee asked timidly.

"I could understand some of it, but that might have been from spending so much time with them." He picked up Rexy off Zaylee's shoulder. The slug happily hopped into his previous owner's palms and chattered excitedly about all the adventures he had had with Micah's daughter. Micah smiled back at the slug and scratched the small spines on its back.

"That's not the prosthetic arm you wear in the house is it?" Zaylee asked, suddenly looking harder at her dad's arm.

"You're just going to throw every curveball you've got at me, huh kiddo?"

Zaylee simply raised an eyebrow at the man.

"No, I had Amicus build me this one so I could still use both my hands in the workshop." Micah admitted. "I think your mom would be too uncomfortable with this one. But I love it." He smiled holding up the chrome and yellow arm for Zaylee. "Amicus got it to connect to my brain waves somehow so I can use all of my fingers as if they were the real deal." He grinned widely and wiggled his fingers. Zaylee tried not to freak out too much at the robotic arm.

"Did he make you anything else?" Zaylee questioned him.

Micah pressed his lips together.

"Stop hiding things from me!" Zaylee exclaimed in frustration. "Show me." She demanded.

"That's no way to talk to your father." Micah sternly looked at his daughter.

"I just don't want to feel like I'm in the dark. I want to believe you're a better father than Will."

"Now that's a low blow. To both of us."

"Hey, we both know Will was never upfront with Eli."

"Will Shane had to make a lot of tough choices. He didn't want to burden Eli with those."

"Well, then why did you keep this all from me?"

"Mostly the same reason. A human-Shadow Clan relationship wasn't exactly accepted back then."

"It wouldn't be accepted now."

"Exactly. And you know just as well as anybody that secrets are there to protect those that matter most."

Zaylee nodded, remembering that no one else knew about her ability to transport.

"But Mfalme will take care to teach you the rest of their customs if you're ready." Micah continued. "Right now though, you need to save Slugterra."

"Can't do that until I get Eli." Zaylee reminded him.

"Of course, so what are you waiting for?"

"Show me the other thing." Zaylee insisted.

Micah sighed, but relented, getting up and walking to a corner of the garage that had a few boxes haphazardly stacked. He took the one off the top and brought it back to the work table. It was a thick black case that looked like it was more for holding guns than prosthetic arms.

He flipped the top, revealing three foam indents. One for the arm he was wearing now, his prosthetic arm he wore around Zaylee's mom and something that looked like an extremely long barreled yellow and sliver blaster.

Zaylee lifted the yellow barrel out of the case slowly and looked at her dad with wide eyes.

"You weren't… were you?"

Micah sighed. "I was considering the possibility. But I decided that I needed to spend more time with my family." He paused, taking the blaster and putting it back in the case. "One of Amicus' best works if you ask me, it was the literal definition of your blaster being the extension of your arm." He chuckled, Zaylee did not.

"I couldn't bear to get rid of it, even after I had decided to come back here and be with my family instead of staying in Slugterra." Micah let out another low sigh. "If I had known how much you wanted to go, I wouldn't have even mentioned to your mom that I had even thought of staying here on the surface. But I love her just as much as I love you, even if you don't feel the same way about your mom. I knew it was time for you to carry on your legacy, I just wish I had been by your side for it. I miss you Zays, you know that?"

"I miss you too." Zaylee whispered, discreetly wiping some unwanted moisture from her eyes.

"You're making me proud though kiddo."

Zaylee smiled and gave her dad a tight hug. "I try my best for you."

"And now you need to make me proud again." Micah smiled pulled far enough back to see his daughter's face. "You go get that stubborn Shane and save Slugterra." He placed a small kiss on Zaylee's forehead.

"Will do dad." She smiled, hugging him tightly again. She slowly released the embrace, suddenly feeling a little homesick. But she was here for something much more important. She waved goodbye as she closed the garage door behind her and headed down the street to Eli's house.

"Well Rexy, this is it." She sighed, looking at the nostalgic house in front of her. She shifted her hoodie again, but instead of knocking on the front door, she hopped the fence to the back yard.

"Just like old times Shane." She muttered quietly.

Elizabeth Shane was washing dishes looking out at the back yard when she saw someone in a red hoodie hop the fence. She was taken back at first until she realized who it was. The teenager gave a small wave and Liz waved back.

"Eli," she called, "There's someone here to see you."

"What, no one knows I'm here!" Eli looked up from the scrapbooks he had been flipping through in the living room.

"I'm pretty sure one person does." She poked her head in the room, looking rather smug.

Eli raised an eyebrow, looking at his mom that he had been taking care of the past month. She was still a little thinner than usual, but her hair was starting to grow back and she was definitely active. He still couldn't bear to leave her. He'd really missed his mom.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Don't leave her hanging."

Eli still sat on the floor looking up at his mom.

"I'll be fine; you don't need to worry about me." She rolled her eyes at her son. "I'll be right here catching up on my soaps."

Eli relented and went to the back yard.

Zaylee felt her heart leap into her throat as she saw the back door creak open and Eli descend down the steps.

"You should be in Slugterra." He looked at her pointedly.

"And so should you." She retorted.

"I need to help my mom."

"She looks fine to me, and my mom's taking care of her."

"What the heck Zaylee, insensitive much?!"

"I'm not trying to be! But you're needed in Slugterra! I know you've missed your mom and that you love her, but if you don't go back, Slugterra's going to fall! We can't beat Blakk without you. We need you Eli."

"Yeah, and my mom needs me too."

"Eli, I don't think you get it. If Slugterra falls, so does the ground we're standing on now. The earth will collapse on itself like one huge sink hole, no one will survive. Helping your mom will be for nothing. I know how much your mom means to you. I wouldn't be able to stand it if something happened to my dad. And I certainly wouldn't be able to live with myself if it was my fault because I couldn't stop some maniac a hundred miles below our feet. Eli please, we need you."

Zaylee looked into her best friend's eyes, but was met with stony resistance.

"Here." He handed Burpy to Zaylee. "He'll help you out more than I can right now. I need to make sure my mom's okay."

"That's not true! I want you Eli, not your slugs!"

Burpy made an offended noise at Zaylee. "No offense buddy." She quickly corrected herself to the orange slug.

"I'm staying with my mom." Eli repeated resolutely.

"Eli, please." Zaylee begged again. "We can't do this without you. We need you, I need you. I'm not as strong without you."

"What does it matter? We couldn't beat Nacho and Twist."

"So you've just given up?" Zaylee almost yelled.

"No, but I'm not going to be any more help than you already have. You said you had an army of slingers."

"Barely 50! Against 5,000! They need to see a Shane; they need you fighting for them! They need someone who is so amazing at slinging that it inspires them to give 110 percent! Eli, we can't do this without you."

"I'm not going, and that's that." He placed Burpy on Zaylee's shoulder next to Rexy. Both slugs pouted at him, but Eli just gave them a sad smile and shook his head.

"Just remember all your friends are down there." Zaylee said quietly, suddenly very nervous. Trixie had told her to try everything, but now that she was looking up at her best friend and crush, the task seemed much more daunting now.

She swallowed hard, closed her eyes tight, grabbed Eli's t-shirt in her hands and pulled him down into a hard kiss. Zaylee counted to five, the number of seconds Trixie had advised, before pulling away and stepping out of Eli's reach.

She tried to look as serious as possible and not mirror Eli's flustered face, "I'm down there too."

Eli reached a hand out, but before he could even make sense of what had happened, she was gone.

He raised a tentative hand to his lips standing by himself in the darkness.

"You shouldn't let her leave like that."

"Mom!"

"Eli, she's right, Slugterra needs you."

"You were listening?!"

"Zaylee's always been a loud girl, it's hard not to." Liz smiled.

"I'm not leaving you." Eli repeated, hundreds of emotions swirling across his face.

"I'll be fine, the hard part is over." Liz's smile was sweet and motherly and Eli couldn't bear to leave his mom again, but after what just happened… that kiss…

"I need to think about this." He said quietly.

"Alright, well do it inside, you don't want to catch a cold."

"Mom, it's September."

"Come on inside dear." She insisted with her motherly smile.

Eli nodded and smiled back, following his mother inside.

Zaylee walked slowly into the Shane hideout, unsure of what she'd find. She smiled at Kord, Mario, Dana, and Xia all asleep on the couch. She assumed Pulse and Pronto were asleep together somewhere else.

"Well?"

Zaylee was so startled she almost pulled her blaster on Trixie.

"What does it look like?" Zaylee muttered dejectedly.

"You tried everything?"

Zaylee nodded. "What are you still doing up?"

"Checking in with all the other teams. Zaylee, something bad is happening. And it's going to be big. There aren't enough of us."

"Sometimes the smallest armies win because of strategy. Get some rest and we can talk about this in a few hours."

Trixie nodded and smiled at her friend before heading upstairs.

Zaylee ran a hand down her face and sighed. "You had almost a month to get him back down here, but I only have you for some reason." She looked down at Burpy. The slug stuck his tongue out in offense. "Then again, I wasn't any more successful. And now," she bent down and picked up some of the papers the Shane Gang had been looking at on the coffee table. "Now, we're in more trouble than ever before."